Chapter 118 - Hidden World
Chapter 118 – Hidden World
GRRRR!
A low but deadly roar came from deep within the dark pathway, and the three boys immediately turned silent, their gazes slowly shifting towards the opening.
"What the f*ck was that?" Gerald looked at Max, who couldn't answer his question. "It sounded far away!" Alphonso whispered softly under his breath and he moved back a few steps, his eyes now turned alert.
Whoosh!
All of a sudden, a long slimy tentacle shot out from the darkness, catching everyone off guard, grabbing hold of Gerald's feet and dragging him through the stairway with such speed that it was impossible for anyone to react.
"AHHHH!" The loud scream of Gerald was heard as he was pulled into the darkness, leaving a shocked Max and Alphonso to stand in front of the stairway, unable to come to terms with what just happened.
"F*ck! Gerald!"Alphonso screamed loudly as he snapped back to reality and rushed towards the entrance of the secret pathway, but he could not see anything in the darkness.
"Max! We have to head inside!" Alphonso gritted his teeth and turned his gaze towards a still shocked Max and pointed at the pathway, urging Max to follow him.
"Max, can you hear me? We have to save Gerald!" Alphonso, who realized that Max was clearly not listening to him, rushed towards him, grabbing him by his shoulders and shaking him violently, which made him readjust his focus onto Alphonso. "Max! Come on! We have to save Gerald!"
"R-Right!" Max nodded his head as soon as he regained his clarity, and nodded his head furiously. The two boys then immediately rushed inside the secret pathway in an attempt to find the location of Gerald and the creature that kidnapped him.
"This must have been the work of Mr. Carrick, I tell you!" Alphonso murmured under his breath as the two boys ran, and Max clicked his tongue with dissatisfaction. "Can you like, shut up for one minute, dude?"
Alphonso turned to look at Max, who had a serious expression on his face, and shook his head. "Fine. We have to save Gerald, after all.." He said with a tone of annoyance hidden in his voice.
The two headed down the stairs with speed, desperate to save their friend from the evil creature's grasp.
The pathway was extremely long and incredibly hard to see, as the small candlesticks that were attached to the walls were only keeping the path dimly lit. After a few minutes of continuous running, Alphonso and Max couldn't help but feel as though the pathway was endless, as there were no distinctive features or different sections to the passage. It felt like they were going in an infinite loop.
"Look! Over there! I can see something in the distance!" After a few more minutes of running, Max pointed his finger forward and spoke in a hushed tone, and Alphonso looked in the direction at which he was pointing at with squinted eyes. "Where?" He asked, confused by Max's words. "I can't see anything."
"Well, I guess I do have much more enhanced senses," Max shrugged his shoulders as he spoke. "But don't worry. You'll see what I'm talking about eventually!"
And soon enough, Alphonso did. After a few more minutes of running, Alphonso could see a strange light coming from a few meters away, and the two boys slowed down and turned alert. Their footsteps suddenly turned soft and silent, as they didn't want to make any noise.
The narrow pathway had opened up into a hidden underground cavern, which was wide and open, much to the surprise of Max and Alphonso. It was almost as though they were in another world. And it almost would have looked completely like one, had it had a real light source. Instead, the cavern was filled with darkness, illuminated only by a few candlesticks that were present only in certain areas, giving the whole place a mysterious and scary look.
"What the f*ck is this place?" Max whispered under his breath as he stared at the enormous cavern that was situated underneath just another normal suburban neighborhood in New World City.
"I have no clue, dude…" Alphonso responded with a soft voice as he too was surprised and shocked by the cavern's presence. "I had no idea that there was an entire cavern underneath this neighborhood."
"To be fair, I don't think anyone did.." Max said as he rubbed his chin, still confused as to how such a large place could not be discovered.
"Right! Now's not the time to be admiring the cavern! We have to focus on our task!" Alphonso said and he lightly slapped his chin, trying to regain his focus back onto their current mission, which was to save Gerald from the monster. Alphonso looked around, trying to find where the monster might've gone, but the cavern was simply too big to pinpoint on location. "Where could he have gone?"
"I got this!" Max said as he lightly pushed Alphonso's shoulder, signaling him to move out of his way, which he did. Max then knelt down and touched the soil and then closed his eyes as he tried to concentrate.
Alphonso waited for Max to open his eyes, tapping his feet as he did so, and after a few seconds of silence, Max opened his eyes, and he got up from the ground.
"What happened? Did you find out where they went?" Alphonso asked instantly, not even wasting a single second with his questions, and Max pointed at a small dirt road and opened his mouth to speak. "They went that way."
—————–
It took Harold a few minutes, but in the end, he reached near Mr. Carrick's house.
"Where the f*ck are they?" However, Harold couldn't find where the trio were, and all of a sudden, he couldn't help but feel scared about their situation.
"Don't tell me…" His gaze then shifted to the front gate of Mr. Carrick's house, and a panic-stricken expression appeared on his face, and beads of sweat began to form on his forehead.
'They wouldn't be so reckless, would they?' Harold thought to himself. He was trying to make his mind believe that there was no way the three boys must have broken into their teacher's house, but in the end, he couldn't even convince himself.
"Don't tell me what?" All of a sudden, a voice entered Harold's ears, and he flinched forward, turning around only to find Noah standing right behind him with an expression filled with pain.
"Ah, it's you, Noah…" Harold let out a sigh of relief as he realized that it was Noah who had spoken, and he leaned back onto the wall behind him that separated Mr. Carrick's land from the road. "It's just, I think the others must have already entered our physics teacher's house."
"Your physics teacher's house?" Noah asked, raising one of his eyebrows in response, and Harold realized that he hadn't explained the whole situation to Noah, which made him slam his forehead with his palm due to embarrassment. "Ah, I forgot to tell you. We think that there might be a chance that our physics teacher is a monster."
"Wait a minute, what?" Noah's eyes widened, and his expression turned grave. "He's a monster disguised as a human? How come you never thought of mentioning this detail to me?"
"Uh, I don't- I don't know… I guess I forgot?" Harold, who was caught off guard by the frustrated voice of Noah, replied in a weak and confused tone. "I don't get it. What's the matter? Is that a big deal?"
Noah clicked his tongue and ran his fingers through his hair as he moved his gaze towards Mr. Carrick's house.
'A monster in human form…' Noah couldn't help but compare this monster to the one that he had fought before, and his lips twitched with anxiety. 'Don't tell me that this one is also going to be a super freak like the one that I fought a few minutes ago…'
He was afraid that this monster would be an abnormal one, similar to Augustus Harriet. If that was the case, then he was pretty sure that he wouldn't be able to handle this creature alone.
'You're wondering whether or not this monster is going to be similar to the other one that you fought earlier, right?' All of a sudden, the familiar voice of Doppelganger Noah entered into his mind, and Noah's eyes widened. 'Do you know anything about it?'
'I don't have any clue about the guy you're about to fight…' Doppelganger Noah replied, and just when Noah was about to let out a disappointed sigh, he continued, 'But you probably would have better luck at winning this fight. The one you fought earlier today was an extremely rare one. A monster that is very low in number.'
'Really?' Noah asked, and Doppelganger Noah confirmed. 'Yup. Really. So you might not have such a bad time with this fight!'
Noah tilted his head and scratched his hair for a few seconds before letting out a sigh and said, "Ah, whatever!" He turned to Harold and continued, "You said your buddies went in there, right? Let's head over there!"